The judgment of covariation between binary variables: Some conditions that influence the process

Two hundred subjects made decisions based on the data of two binary variables, ethnic origin and employment status. They were asked to specify the information necessary and sufficient for making the decision before doing so. Variables studied were: (1) Type of question. Five questions were used, four of which focused on one of the four instances involved (e.g., Which information is necessary to find out if there is a connection between Asian immigrants and unemployment?). Question five was unbiased. (2) Type of variable. Half of the subjects found two symmetric variables, and half found one symmetric and one asymmetric variable. (3) Level of correlation. Five different correlations were used, three favoring Asians, one favoring Europeans, and one representing a zero correlation. Subjects made logical decisions that were not influenced by any of the experimental conditions. The selection of information before and after making choices was influenced by all variables except level of correlation. The biased questions produced deviations from normative reasoning; the two symmetrical variables and the process of making decisions encouraged normative reasoning.     

Human covariation judgment: Accuracy and strategy

Judgment strategy is proposed as a contributor to the variability of findings in past research on human covariation judgment. Mathematically sophisticated judgment strategies will accurately judge all event covariations. However, faulty judgment rules will also produce correct judgments of many event relationships. Several methods have been used in past research to identify subjects' strategies of covariation judgment. Each of these methods indicates that humans employ simplistic, error-prone rules to judge event relationships. Shifts in covariation strategy use are proposed as a source of past findings that judgment accuracy depends on the decision conditions.     

The covariation of independent and dependant variables in neurofeedback: A proposal framework to identify cognitive processes and brain activity variables

This methodological article proposes a framework for analysing the relationship between cognitive processes and brain activity using variables measured by neurofeedback (NF) carried out by functional Magnetic Resonance Imagery (fMRI NF). Cognitive processes and brain activity variables can be analysed as either the dependant variable or the independent variable. Firstly, we propose two traditional approaches, defined in the article as the “neuropsychological” approach (NP) and the “psychophysiology” approach (PP), to extract dependent and independent variables in NF protocols. Secondly, we suggest that NF can be inspired by the style of inquiry used in neurophenomenology. fMRI NF allows participants to experiment with his or her own cognitive processes and their effects on brain region of interest (ROI) activations simultaneously. Thus, we suggest that fMRI NF could be improved by implementing “the elicitation interview method”, which allows the investigator to gather relevant verbatim from participants’ introspection on subjective experiences.     

Individual differences in sensitivity to reward and punishment predict moral judgment

Dual process models of moral judgment propose that such judgments are produced by interacting neural systems: a controlled cognitive system and an automatic affective system. Individual differences in moral judgment may therefore arise from variation in cognitive control ability and/or from variation in affective sensitivity. Previous research indicates that individual differences in cognitive control, indexed by working memory capacity, predict moral judgment (Moore, Clark, & Kane, 2008). Here we replicate group level findings from Moore et al. (2008) and demonstrate that individual differences in sensitivity to reward and punishment are strong predictors of moral judgment. Higher reward sensitivity positively correlates with willingness to sacrifice one life to save multiple others and moderates the impact of self-interest on participants’ judgments. Higher punishment sensitivity negatively correlates with willingness to kill, particularly when negative affective information is present. These results help to revise current dual process models of moral judgment.     

Response times in attitudinal items as indicators of the continuous accessibility of knowledge related to attitudes

In the paradigm of social cognition, the measurement of response latencies is important not only for priming procedures directed at the cognitive representation, but also for the assessment of strength-related properties of attitudes. The present paper explored the possibility of using response times as indicators of the continuous accessibility of attitude-relevant knowledge. For two different sets of attitudinal items concerning social welfare (idiographic and nomothetic selection) response times were obtained from a sample of 20 university students. In addition to different reliability coefficients for aggregated response times, information about individual subjects' consistencies and stabilities was obtained. Further, evidence for the validity of response times as indicators of the continuous accessibility of attitude-related knowledge is reported. The aggregated response times had significant correlations with self-report data and interview-related variables (such as number of propositions mentioned) which were obtained by a content analysis of semistructured interviews.     

Aphasics' sensitivity to contextual appropriateness conditions for pragmatic indicators

Twenty normal and twenty aphasic subjects were tested for their understanding of implicit meanings of the French adverbs même (even), aussi (also), and surtout (mainly). Their sensitivity to the contextual appropriateness conditions of such items was analyzed in a multiple-choice paradigm requiring them to select from three figures the one which was best described by a sentence like "Show me the figure that is même (aussi, surtout) red." A global quantitative comparison indicates that aphasics' performance was inferior to that of the normal controls. Yet, the analysis of individual responses allowed the identification of three different subgroups of aphasics: the first produced responses identical to the normals' responses; the second seemed to ignore the adverb and systematically selected the figure with the highest amount of the asserted color; and the third produced responses identical to the normals' responses for surtout but had difficulties with même or aussi. As concerns the relationship between aphasics' performance and their scores on literal language comprehension tests, the data favor the dissociation between literal and pragmatic factors in comprehension. Finally, no clear relationship was observed between aphasia type and aphasics' performance, although three points are noted in the discussion: (1) all the conduction aphasics performed like normals, (2) among the Broca's aphasics, the one with the clearest agrammatic verbal output produced responses similar to those of the normals, and (3) there was no anomic patient in the second subgroup.     

The effect of representations of binary variables on judgment of influence

Studies concerned with judgments of contingency between binary variables have often ignored what the variables stand for. The two values of a binary variable can be represented as a prevailing state (nonevent) or as an active state (event). Judgments under the four conditions resulting from the combination of a binary input variable that can be represented as event-nonevent or event-event with an outcome variable that can be represented in the same way were obtained. It is shown in Experiment 1, that judgments of data sets which exhibit the same degree of covariation depend upon how the input and output variables are represented. In Experiment 2 the case where both the input and output variables are represented as event-nonevent is examined. Judgments were higher when the pairing of the input event was with the output event and the input nonevent with the output nonevent that when the pairing was of event with nonevent, suggesting a causal compatibility of event-event pairings and a causal incompatibility of event-nonevent pairings. Experiment 3 demonstrates that judgments of the strength of the relation between binary input and output variables is not based on the appropriate statistical measure, the difference between two conditional probabilities. The overall pattern of judgments in the three experiments is mainly explicable on the basis of two principles: (1) judgments tend to be based on the difference between confirming and disconfirming cases and (2) causal compatibility in the representation of the input and output variables plays a critical role.     

Interresponse time as a function of continuous variables: a new method and some data

A cathode-ray oscilloscope and a Polaroid camera record interresponse times as a function of time, stimulus wavelength, and similar variables. Each response flashes a point of light on the oscilloscope screen; the vertical position of the point gives IRT, the horizontal position gives the value of the other variable. Several thousand such points may be recorded on a single frame of film, and the density of the points indicates the relative frequency of various IRTs. The method has the advantages of a two-dimensional display of continuous variables, flexibility, speed, and relatively low cost. It lacks the advantage of a digital output. Figures show IRTs of pigeons on VI, FR, DRL and extinction, and transitions among these, and also the results of stimulus generalization tests. The results have some provocative features that require much further exploration. Among other things, they suggest that "response rate" as a measure usually includes a response-dependent component that is insensitive to changes in other variables.     

Structural equation models with continuous and polytomous variables

A two-stage procedure is developed for analyzing structural equation models with continuous and polytomous variables. At the first stage, the maximum likelihood estimates of the thresholds, polychoric covariances and variances, and polyserial covariances are simultaneously obtained with the help of an appropriate transformation that significantly simplifies the computation. An asymptotic covariance matrix of the estiates is also computed. At the second stage, the parameters in the structural covariance model are obtained via the generalized least squares approach. Basic statistical properties of the estimates are derived and some illustrative examples and a small simulation study are reported.This research was supported in part by a research grant DA01070 from the U. S. Public Health Service. We are indebted to several referees and the editor for very valuable comments and suggestions for improvement of this paper. The computing assistance of King-Hong Leung and Man-Lai Tang is also gratefully acknowledged.     

Practical judgment as reflective judgment: On moral salience and Kantian particularist universalism

Moral particularists and generalists alike have struggled over how to incorporate the role of moral salience in ethical reasoning. In this paper, I point to neglected resources in Kant to account for the role of moral salience in maxim formation: Kant's theory of reflective judgment. Kant tasks reflective judgment with picking out salient empirical particulars for formation into maxims, associating it with purposiveness, or intentional activity (action on ends). The unexpected resources in Kantian reflective judgment suggest the possibility of a particularist universalism, where recalcitrant particulars directly inform, and in some cases revise, moral principles. Such an account improves on particularist accounts of moral salience and moral perception: rather than deriving moral sensitivity solely from an agent's upbringing or cultural resources, the reflective dimension is situated alongside the universalist dimension of moral principles typically identified with Kantian ethics, allowing for a critical approach both to moral universals and to the reception of moral particulars.     

Anxiety sensitivity in smokers with indicators of cardiovascular disease

There is growing recognition of the importance of understanding the nature of the associations between anxiety and cardiovascular disease (CVD), although limited research has examined mechanisms that may explain the anxiety-CVD link. Anxiety sensitivity (fear of anxiety-relevant somatic sensations) is a cognitive-affective risk factor implicated in the development of anxiety psychopathology and various behavioral risk factors for CVD, although has not been examined among individuals with CVD. Adult daily smokers (n = 619; 50.9% female; M_age = 44.0, SD = 13.67) completed an online survey that included the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). The presence of CVD was assessed via the presence of ≥1 of the following: heart attack, heart murmur, positive stress test, heart valve abnormality, angina, and heart failure. Smokers with CVD indicators (n = 66, 10.7%) had significantly higher scores on the ASI-3 (M = 33.5, SD = 22.15), relative to smokers without CVD (M = 22.0, SD = 17.92; Cohen’s d = .57). Those with CVD were significantly more likely to have moderate or high anxiety sensitivity (66.7%) relative to those without CVD (49.4%). Physical and social concerns about the meaning of somatic sensations were common among smokers with CVD.